NERV Headquarters, Command Room.

"The Apostolic Response is approaching the sixth monitoring satellite and will be in two minutes before it comes into contact."

The personnel of the technical department mobilized the radar images.

"The first signal came from India, probably SEELE." Ritsuko Akagi taps the keyboard.

"You want to get rid of the apostles by our hands, and you really know how to calculate." Misato snorted coldly.

"No way, the apostles are going to be eliminated anyway." Ritsuko Akagi said, "If that creature is kept alive, there is a possibility that it will trigger a third shock at any time." ”

"The target image has been captured!"

Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi stared at the huge screen, and the image of the Apostle in space was mobilized.

(Empty Angel Diagram)

"Why is it in that kind of place, it's really no common sense," Misato looked at the creature with a sad face.

It is impossible to infer it from the common sense of living beings, it floats in the airless universe, its huge eyeballs, staring at the surface of the earth, like a silent observer.

The Tenth Apostle, the Angel of the Sky, sensed the arrival of the observation satellite, and the next second, the camera lost its signal and the screen turned into a black and white electronic spark.

"Is there a new use of the AT force field, and the apostles are also evolving." Ritsuko Akagi sighed.

At the same time, in the universe that Ritsuko Akagi could not see, the empty angel split a piece of body tissue from his body, wrapped it with an AT force field, and threw it towards the ground.

It dropped cannonballs directly from space, like meteorites.

Minutes later, MAGI again captured satellite imagery over the Pacific Ocean, and the attack triggered a Level III tsunami alert, in which ships in the nearby waters were swept in, with the dead and wounded.

"It's so destructive." Misato took a hissed breath, "If it hits here, I'm afraid the neighborhood will be razed to the ground." ”

"According to MAGI's simulations, if the Apostle's attack hits here, 80 percent of the buildings on the ground will be destroyed." Ritsuko Akagi brings up the 3D rehearsal.

"Won't you invade the underground city?" Misato asked.

"It's not going to be an attack of this magnitude, but. If the apostle drops his own body as a bomb, it is expected that the entire city of Third Tokyo and the area within a radius of 20 kilometers will be destroyed, and the depth of impact is expected to be 15,000 meters, and this place will become a large lake directly connected to the Pacific Ocean. Ritsuko turned her head: "Misato, do you have any ideas on how to deal with this guy?" ”

Misato raised his forehead and was silent for a while: "To be honest, I don't know how to defeat this kind of enemy at all, and the command is not in my hands, so let's wait for the commander to decide." ”

"Can you already call him commander so skillfully?" Ritsuko left the keyboard with both hands.

"Don't make fun of me, Ritsuko." Misato pinched Ritsuko's face.

Misato's mood is a little complicated, not long ago, Ian was her subordinate, but now the polarization is reversed.

But she was not unconvinced, from the first time they met, she recognized that person's ability.

Later events proved even more that even if that person was a commanding talent, it was beyond her reach.

But even if it was him, could there really be any good way to face the Tenth Apostle?

Misato had personally experienced the battle between the Third Apostle and the Eighth Apostle, and frankly, she thought that the Tenth Apostle might be the strongest apostle at the moment.

When facing the Thunder Angel, he can still try to bombard it with a positron cannon, but the Tenth Apostle is in outer space, and the destructive power is so powerful that it is impossible to detect its movements. All buffs are stacked.

It fell from space like a devastating meteorite, and was there really a way for humanity to stop the apostles?

Is humanity doomed?

As recorded in the Dead Sea Books, when the apostles returned to Adam, all life was purified.

Two hours later.

Ian had sent Shinji Ikari to the Eighth Vault and had come to the command room to observe the Apostle's actions.

Third, the city of Tokyo is in a state of readiness, and the residents have been moved to shelters in the underground city.

Asuka and Rei Ayaami, after receiving the call, also came here, ready to drive EVA at any time.

"The apostles have attacked again." Ritsuko called up the image: "The second attack is here, it looks like it's correcting the error, getting closer and closer to us." ”

"The N2 aerial bomb has no effect on it, and due to the influence of the apostles, the radio waves in the upper atmosphere are very unstable, and now we have no way to detect it through satellites, and we can no longer predict its movements, according to its previous trajectory, it is conservatively estimated that it will reach the top of the third Tokyo city in about twenty-three hours, and then drop itself as a bomb."

Misato stepped forward: "MAGI thinks that the win rate of the second and zero machines is zero, and it is impossible to win unless the first machine is added, and I hope that I can meet Shinji Ikari and let me convince him to come back and fly the first machine." ”

"It's useless to barely Shinji, now he can't drive an EVA." Ian shook his head.

"What then, do you want to abandon this place and let the residents get out of the area of the explosion and take refuge?" Misato said: "Anyway, it is Lilith who is sealed underground, even if the Tenth Apostle comes into contact with Lilith, it will not cause a third impact." ”

"Maybe we can let the Apostle come to the surface and fight it head-on."

"That's a good idea, indeed." Ian said, "But Miss Misato, there's no need to do that. ”

"Do you have a better way?"

"Just stop it beforehand."

"But. We don't know exactly when or where it will fall. ”

"It doesn't matter, when it falls, just let the second machine throw me over, and I'll catch it with my hand."

"With your hands. Are you stupid? Asuka frowned: "It's better to retreat." ”

"Commander Ian, even if you can be the sixth apostle and the seventh apostle at the same time, the target will fall directly from space." Ritsuko Akagi's face was solemn: "I think the best plan is to follow MGAI's instructions and evacuate directly." ”

"Ritsuko-san, first of all, I'm going to correct your mistakes, not two, but three." Ian held out three fingers, "And, I know more about the S2 Mechanism and the Apostles than you do. ”

"But what you said also makes sense, there is no need to let everyone take the risk, let all the residents within a radius of fifty kilometers evacuate, otherwise it will not be good for them to be affected by the fighting."

"You're not kidding, are you?" Asuka worried, "Do you really want to do this?" ”

"I never do anything that I am not sure of, don't worry, the Tenth Apostle is not strong enough for me to deal with, I have been prepared." Ian wasn't scared by the arrival of the empty angel, he remained calm.

"Then issue a D-17 directive to the Japanese government and the districts to evacuate all nearby residents." Misato nodded.

Soon, a mighty retreat began.

The government's actions are very efficient, helicopters and cars, to transport everyone away.

Shinji Ikari is also among the evacuated teams.

No one came to say goodbye to him, he only knew that because of the apostles' attack, the city of Third Tokyo was no longer safe, so all the residents here had to be evacuated.

However, he was treated differently from other residents, and a special car picked him up and sent him to the city of Dai-Tokyo.

"That. What kind of apostle did he come this time look like? Shinji Ikari asked in the car.

The soldiers in charge of transporting him were soldiers from the self-fighting team, and Shinji Ikari spoke with Ian on the phone before getting into the car, and Ian said that the two men were old friends of Bless Ryoji, and if there was any difficulty, Shinji Ikari could rely on them to his heart's content.

The two soldiers sitting in the driver's seat and the passenger seat looked at each other.

"It's an apostle from outer space." One of them said: "I heard that it would fall like a meteorite, so I told the inhabitants to retreat, leaving only the main personnel to deal with the apostles." ”

Falling like a meteorite

Shinji chuckled when he heard this, that is, Mr. Ian, are they going to stay in the third new Tokyo City and fight against the meteorite-like apostles?

"Don't worry, boy." The soldier started the engine and drove the car onto the main road: "We will send you to your teacher, and you will not have to come back later." ”

The road is very crowded, the traffic police are directing traffic, and even at night, it is still densely packed with the shadows of cars.

But Shinji took the military passage, and this road was much smoother, and it was a dredging route for important people.

Is it really okay to just go away?

Shinji looked back at the door of NERV, he was silent and looked out of the window.

He suddenly realized that once he stopped driving EVA, Shinji Ikari would become meaningless and irrelevant to everyone else.

If you think about it, why did my father call me to come to Third New Tokyo in the first place?

Isn't it because I'm the third qualified?

It's just because of this, it's only because I can use myself that I will call myself over, otherwise I will just continue to ignore myself as I did in the past.

Shinji Ikari is only worth being a qualified person, and he has nothing but driving an EVA.

But driving EVA was a painful thing for him, he didn't want to fight a monster like the Apostle at all, and the pain that EVA endured would also be fed back to him, and every time he fought, he experienced deep fear.

Especially the last time, when the second branch fought Ian, it caused him the biggest psychological trauma.

So he decided not to drive an EVA anymore and never do anything that made him miserable again.

But why don't you feel sad and miserable when you don't have to drive an EVA now?

Worried, he curled up in the back seat and hugged his thin legs.

Just then, the soldier's phone rang.

"I see." The soldier nodded and handed the phone to the back row: "Boy, it's your phone." ”

"Mine?" Shinji took the phone.

Who could it be?

Is it Miss Misato?

Or Mr. Ian?

Could it be that they were here to persuade him to go back to driving the EVA?

If Mr. Ian had persuaded him, what should he have done?

Go back?

But I'm scared.

Driving an EVA is scary.

It's terrible to fight with the apostles.

The injury is terrible. The pain is terrible. The dark insertion tether is so scary. The feeling of suffocation is terrible.

Everything related to EVA is so scary.

Shinji answered the phone with a worried heart.

"It's me, Rei Ayana." A cold female voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Ayana" Hearing that it was Rei Ayana's voice, Shinji was relieved.

He knew that Rei Ayanami would not persuade him to go back to driving the EVA, and he realized that he was relaxing for not having to drive the EVA.

But in the next second, what Ayanami Rei said made him realize how naïve he was.

Rei Ayanami's words were so short that she hung up the phone.

Rei Ayanami said, "Ikari-kun, I'll work hard so that you don't have to drive an EVA to live well." ”

Shinji Ikari held the hung up phone and was quiet for a long time.

He was making a decision that would affect the rest of his life, and in the end, he mustered up the courage to dial that number.

It was Ian's personal phone number for him, saying that if he had any difficulties, he would always call.

With a click, the phone was connected.

"Shinji-kun, has something happened?" Ian asked.

"That. Mr. Ian" Shinji took a deep breath and his eyes sharpened: "I want to come back!" ”

"Come back. Is this the time? Ian said: "Shinji-kun, no matter who said anything to you, I don't want you to force yourself, it's okay for you to leave the Third Tokyo City like this, that apostle is actually not as terrible as others say, just leave it to me." ”

"It's not someone else's will, it's me!" Shinji's words were firm: "Didn't Mr. Ian say that too?" Whether I drive an EVA or not, it's my own decision, just follow my own heart's content! ”

"So I want to come back and drive EVA!"

"Let me ask you again, is this really what you are thinking? If it's a decision you made, you can't go back on it when you die. ”

"I'm the EVA first pilot, Shinji Ikati, please let me come back!" Shinji didn't hesitate this time.

"yes. You. I've grown into an adult." Ian smiled with relief, "Then there's only one thing I can say, welcome back." ”

Twenty hours later, the third Tokyo city.

The first, second and zero machines are distributed in three different places, covering the nearby area to the greatest extent.

Unit 2 was set up in the center, on a raised hill, with the first and zero units in charge.

"The Sky Angel will probably fall directly above me and the number two." Ian spoke to the three drivers on the communication channel.

"Directly above? Why do you think so? Asuka asked.

"It's my own calculation." Ian said.

"Even if I die, I will do a good job of supporting." Shinji is very determined.

"Don't be so nervous." Ian smiled, "Shinji, you just have to watch there, and everything will work out smoothly." ”

(End of chapter)